Using global search

4 steps 3 min Updated 6 September 2026

The global search (command palette) lets you find users, groups, pages and help guides from anywhere in ADAdmin — and ask questions in plain English — without navigating to a specific section first.

Type a question like "how do I suspend a user" and the matching help guides appear right in the results with a short preview, ranked above the record matches. Typos are forgiven ("suspnd" still finds the guide). If a query looks like a task ("create a user jane smith", "reset password for jane"), a Do it now row appears with up to three matching actions that open the right form (or answer, or confirm card) for you — see Ask the assistant to do things for the full list of what you can ask for. And for anything the instant results don't answer, the Ask the assistant row opens a conversation panel that answers in plain language, drawn from the help documentation itself.

The assistant panel

Asking a question — from the search bar, the top bar's help menu, or a page's own ? button — opens the assistant in its own panel sliding in from the right, separate from the instant-search results underneath. Your question, the answer, and anything you ask next all stay in that one panel so you can keep the conversation going; closing it (Escape, clicking outside, or its close button) and reopening the assistant later picks the same conversation back up, until it goes twelve hours without an answer, after which it starts fresh. Use the pencil icon in the panel's header at any point to start a new conversation on purpose.

The header also has a widen/narrow icon for longer answers or a wider screen — it remembers your choice for next time you open the assistant, on this or another device.

Before you start

You must be signed in as an admin, mentor, observer, governor, or ofsted account. Learners do not have access to user or group search.
Results are scoped to the school or schools you are currently authorised to see.

Steps

Step 1: Open the search

Select the search bar in the top centre of any page, or press ⌘K (Mac) or Ctrl K (Windows / Linux).

The search panel slides open with a text field ready to type.

Step 2: Type your query

Start typing a name, username, page name, or plain-English request. Results appear after you have typed at least two characters, grouped into up to five sections (question-shaped queries put Help guides first; everything else keeps these in the order below):

Do it now — a matching action, if your text looks like a task the assistant can resolve
Help guides — matching help articles, with a short preview
Pages — matching pages in the sidebar navigation
Users — matching people in your authorised school(s), shown with their avatar and school name
Groups — matching cohorts

Step 3: Select a result

Use ↑ and ↓ arrow keys to move through results
Press Enter to open the highlighted result
Or click a result directly

Selecting a user or group opens their edit page. Selecting a page navigates to it.

Step 4: Close without selecting

Press Escape or click outside the panel to close it.

Result

You land on the selected user, group, or page. If you selected a user in a different school from your current active school, ADAdmin automatically switches to that school first.

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